1. Field of the Invention
A connector fastening arrangement locks a connector housing to a printed circuit board, thereby to effect engagement between a resilient contact on the housing and a corresponding electrical element on the adjacent top surface of the printed circuit board. A rotary locking member carried by the connector housing extends within a locking bore contained in the adjacent surface of the printed circuit board, the locking member being rotatable between locked and unlocked positions relative to the connector housing. In a preferred embodiment, the locking bore is a through bore, and the locking member extends completely through the locking bore. When the locking member is rotated toward the locked position, an eccentric locking device carried by the extremity of the locking member extends in locking engagement beneath the bottom surface of the printed circuit board. In a second embodiment, the locking device comprises a bayonet fitting arrangement.
2. Description of Related Art
As shown by the Lange et al U.S. Pat. No. 7,066,756, it has been proposed in the patented prior art to fasten a connector component to a printed circuit board by quick-operating snap fastener means.
The typical connector housing can be locked on a printed circuit board by means of catch pegs or special lugs, whereby when in the locked state, resilient contacts on the connector housing are in engagement with conductive elements on the printed circuit board. The contacting thus takes place in only one single connector block. There is no need for any additional pin board or socket board on the printed circuit board.
Although the known printed circuit board connectors have proven generally to operate satisfactorily, it was required to be to be further developed in terms of the manner of its assembly on the printed circuit board, and especially also with regard to the possibility of disassembly from the printed circuit board.
The present invention solves this problem by means of a connector having resilient contacts that engage corresponding contacts on a printed circuit board that preferably, whereby there is arranged on the housing furthermore at least one rotatable locking member that can be rotated around a longitudinal axis defined by an opening in the connector housing for locking the connector housing upon the printed circuit board by means of a rotary motion, or a combined rotational and axial motion.
Preferably, the locking means comprise a locking bolt that extends completely through the passage opening, whereby when in the locked position, it extends under the printed circuit board with the locking head on the side facing away from the housing.
According to a particularly advantageous variant, at least one locking bolt is formed as an eccentric bolt. By using these devices, it is possible, as always, to dispense with a counterpiece on the printed circuit board such as a pin strip or a solderable socket board and to accomplish in a relatively inexpensive manner contacting of the contact pads upon the printed circuit board without any soldering of the contacts together with the contact pads. The contacting is done quickly in a simple manner and securely, preferably with a tool such as a screwdriver with which the locking bars can preferably be fixed or separated with less than one complete rotation. Disassembly is achieved by releasing the locking means constitutes a special advantage here.
As an alternative, the locking means can also comprise a bayonet-type locking arrangement provided in each case within one of the passage openings. The procedure is even simpler, however, with the help of an eccentric bolt that beneath the printed circuit board when the eccentrically arranged the locking head is in the locking position.